What is the Point of Brand Purpose?

Who’d have thought that a haircut would turn out to be one of the things people miss most in lockdown? And yet that, together with hugging friends and family, turns out to be top of mind (literally) for all of us. Brands per se are not in the scope of what we miss.

That reminder of who we are as human beings has been shaken too with the worldwide protests in solidarity with George Floyd and #BlackLivesMatter. We are undoubtedly in the throes of a massive, disruptive and globally shared experience where we question our leaders, our values and our choices. Purpose is front and centre.

And yet we have seen cut-and-paste ads to praise our healthcare heroes and cut-and-paste statements of brand solidarity with their BAME customers, despite a paucity of representation on company boards. Why does every brand feel the need to say something? Is this because the marketing of brands has become too much about saying? Managing Brand Purpose, the primary job (in my opinion) of CMOs, is first about being and doing, not about saying.

In the end, brand purpose is simply the answer to the question, “What’s the point of you”?

And that applies to both businesses and their brands. So, we start with business. Brands are run by businesses, so their purposes are inextricably intertwined. And both are part of the economy.

First Revisit Business Purpose

Byron Sharp wrote a great short post on LinkedIn recently about the economy. He said, “The economy is … people doing things for other people”. Of course, it can be complicated, but the basic “why” of business and brands is exactly that.

Kenneth Mason, CEO of Quaker Oats once said, “Making a profit is no more the purpose of a corporation than getting enough to eat is the purpose of life. Getting enough to eat is a requirement of life; life’s purpose, one would hope, is somewhat broader and more challenging. Likewise with business and profit.” We see something of a revival of that idea in the statement last August from the American Business Roundtable https://bit.ly/2Yq0jZ9 saying that businesses should be about all stakeholders and not just shareholders. Businesses are part of society too and where we are now shows just how dependent they are on all of the people in the societies in which they exist. Being and doing what is right in the wider ecosystem is demonstrably not na?ve, it makes for a more resilient business in times of risk or disruption. If Boeing had kept in mind its purpose and accountability to all people, it could not have made the poor and risky decisions it did.

Purpose is far more fundamental than signing up to ESG, SDGs or CSR initiatives.

Back to Brand Purpose

A purpose can be both prosaic and profound. Having clean clothes is a good example of a category purpose. It’s pretty basic yet it encompasses so much. In some societies there is a shortage of running water, in some very small spaces to live and in others a desire to have as small an impact on the environment as possible. Our clothes are part of who we are. That makes the purpose of clean clothes as profound as why we miss our hairdressers. Different brands have many reasons to exist within that broad purpose. Mass market brands may have a different purpose from those designed to be gentle or perform specific functions in cleaning, but all must have a reason why they exist vs. other brands. Sticking to being and doing “what is the point of you” might seem less sexy than the kind of messaging marketers would like, but it has a great deal more resonance with people, especially in troubled times.

Being and Doing your Brand Purpose

If you are clear about your brand purpose, how do you ensure the right execution throughout the organisation? A good way is to have an explicit decision-making process with clear criteria against which potential actions are judged. Leonard Smith from the LSE talks about this. A good decision process has “a set of principles that are easy to articulate and to adhere to”. Not only does this help guide actions every day, it also helps to explain why decisions have been taken. This is critical in the current circumstances where change and uncertainty characterise the environment. Where decisions must be made with incomplete knowledge and some are bound to be wrong, the ability to “show your working” greatly enhances the credibility and reassurance of a brand or business in taking people with them during times like this.

Businesses and brands with a deep knowledge of why they exist are more likely to find that their people make decisions on the fly that fit with who they are and what they do. Even if some decisions turn out to be wrong, they are more likely to be heading in a consistent and resilient direction. Brands and businesses with made-up purposes and short-term goals are more likely to have their people make decisions that lack focus and result in false starts going in all directions.

Being and Doing before Saying

Both Business and Brand purpose is knowing what is the point of you and then being that in everything you do. Not just for idealistic reasons but for the very practical benefits it brings in trust and resilience.

Brand purpose is not a marketing game focused on what you say. It is the point of you. Now more than ever.